Re: [Sheflug] Modem cutting out

[Alex Hudson <xxxxx [at] xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thursday 04 October 2001 13:53, you wrote:
> I've finally gotten online up here, and I've got a small problem. The modem
> I use, which worked perfectly alright back home, now seems to keep cutting
> out for about a minute or so every now and then.

Sit and listen to it. Be really, really, sit and quiet. Many modems don't 
have a '0' volume control, they just have a big resistor which turns the 
volume down really low, but you can usually still make out the sound.

Anyway, to the point: usually, when listening to your modem you will hear 
something very akin to white noise - it's just random hiss. However, I would 
lay a far bet that during these periods of 'cutting out' you hear the 
characteristic da-ding da-ding baap boop schchchchhchchch, much like when you 
dial up for the first time if you have the volume turned on. It's negotiation 
- basically, it sounds like your line isn't amazing and the modem keeps 
having to re-negotiate with the other end of the line to keep the connection 
going. 

You shouldn't lose the remote connection to a server if you're using a decent 
protocol, but if it's having to do it often enough I suppose it's possible. 
And, to be honest, there's not a huge amount you can do about it. You can set 
the modem to connect at a lower speed: 40k, 33k6, something like that. That 
will hopefully mean less errors and the connection should be more stable. 
Although you'd be sacrificing 'raw speed', you would be gaining in 
consistency, so you may actually find your transfers get better. The other 
option is to try and get BT to do something about the line - get a line test, 
something like that, and see if the line's any good.

Cheers,

		Alex.
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